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The CRA can only seize your bank account for money you owe them, not any of the other debts you mentioned. They would have to somehow find out where you bank, and issue a garnishee order. I think you are fine with using the bank account for your rent.

I agree with the other posters. Time to get a real job and formulate a plan for paying off all these debts so you don't have to live like this.

Yabbut CRA can assess taxes and seize your assets without you ever filing a tax return and determining what, in fact, you owe. It's a way to force people to file - to get their money back. (We just had a long thread on this recently.)

MRT, why should the OP pay a fee for a bank draft in your scenario where they have a bank account? A personal cheque is just fine and is the way millions of people pay for their rent every single month. Bank drafts are a waste of money when it comes to paying monthly rent. I could see him going that route if he does not have a bank account but yeah, lots of problems here. Let's not confuse the issue by encouraging someone like this to waste money on unnecessary fees.

But seriously OP, stop spending your money on things you don't NEED and pay off your debts so you can stop worrying about stupid Shaw bills. Oh, and pay back your "friend". You'll have to start claiming income eventually.

I knew one guy who was in a similar situation to what the OP has described. His issue wasn't out of control spending or anything like that. He had responsibility, priority, and cash flow issues. The guy just didn't know how to make things flow and he essentially had all his bad choices creating more bad situations, to which he would once again make bad choices.

For him an idea would be to stop what he's doing, make a list off all his responsibilities and lay out a plan for how to pay all debts as required, in a proper order. You have to look at the schedule of money coming in versus the schedule of money going out and gets some balance in your finances. Do the same thing for your life.

CRA have very significant powers. They can, and do, seize bank accounts, garnishee wages, place liens on your registered possessions, and other not so pleasant collection methods.

They need these tools otherwise Canada would be another Italy or Greece when it came to avoiding taxes and the avoidance of actually paying the assessed tax.

As others have said, I suspect there is nothing like a wage garnishee or the seizure of a bank account to get someone to either come in and discuss their tax situation, respond to requests for information, or simply file their taxes.

CRA may seem tough on personal income tax but they are even tougher, and rightly so, on payroll deduction remittances.

Although it is not kosher, a good bank manger will, on receipt of a seizure notice, check you account for demand loans. If there any demand loans the bank tends to call them immediately so that they get their money ahead of CRA. They are not supposed to do this but I know that it was the practice at many banks some time ago. The bank's view is that if you cannot pay your taxes, chances are you cannot pay your demand loan-especially after CRA has emptied your bank accounts!

After reading this I will definitely not deposit any money, I'll have to use either a money order or bank draft today.

Originally Posted by peterk

Do you have letters from CRA saying that you owe them lots of money? How much? I ask because you say that you have had minimal reported income for the past few years. You likely don't owe any taxes at all, and probably are entitled to some credits?

I'm not sure on the seriousness of my situation because I do not receive mail and I move around a lot. I just got sick of all the unwanted visitors at my door and constant phone calling about every little thing. And growing up as a kid my dad was no better than me, he had gambling issues and would often skip bills and payments a lot. So it's basically the same story all over again.

I owe about $160 to the hospital. It's not much but felt it's important to mention to find out how much power CRA has over me right now, also when I was a teenager I got like a dozen skytrain tickets and they are $173 each. Totally forgot about that, but I read in the paper something like less than 12% have been paid in BC. I have friends who have 3x as many of these damn "no bus fare" tickets! damn.

I'm ball parking it around $5000 - $7000 total. FML :/

Originally Posted by mind_business

munchies1, out of curiousity, are you actively working towards paying off all your debts? Do you have plans to?

I'm not, I know this is all going to come crashing down on me sooner or later. If I can find a job I like for 6 months I think I'll be okay though. Thanks everyone, I'll try to keep using this forum more it has a great community.

There is a statute of limitations on some debts. I think, if no action is taken to collect a debt for two years, it is no longer considered owing by law (this doesn't apply to all debt CRA, for example, can come forever it seems). Talking to a trustee in bankruptcy may not be a bad idea...initial meetings are usually free, and there are options other than bankruptcy. Also, it may help if there was an intermediary.